Attempting worthless casted turnings

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endacoz

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Feb 5, 2014
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Brookfield, NY
I purchased some stabilized worthless resin casted boards.

I am making some sewing seam rippers out of them. This is my first ever wood / resin project. After drilling, gluing the tube in then rounding and shaping I find myself filling in various holes that the resin didn't get into. Is this normal? Some are tiny others require adding saw dust or multiple drops of med -thick CA. I also had 1 have a large piece crack off, I have glued it back together and trying to save it. (far right in picture. you can see the glued lines.)

Any thing I should keep in mind proceeding to the sanding and then I'm planning on a CA finish.

I prefer wet sanding, walnut oil with wood and water on resins. Should I use either or dry sand? Will the wood or resin bleed while sanding?

Thanks!
 

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The few blanks I have worked with that were combo wood/resin I just finished them in my normal way for wood--sounds kinda similar to your method, I sand with walnut oil, and then if I want a CA finish, I put the CA on a Paper Towel which I have put walnut oil on--I haven't actually put a CA finish on any combo resin blanks, I have just finished them with several coats of walnut oil and then a high build friction polish or Rob Browns pen polish--walnut oil based stuff. They finished beautifully, no bleed over of either wood or resin.
 
Worthless wood castings vary and some may be very fragile. The more fragile ones require frequent soakings with thin CA as you are turning and may require the use of a flap disk and angle grinder in lieu of turning tools.
 
I have searched on youtube and have not seen anyone finishing one of these. A lot of videos on how to cast worthless wood but didn't see anyone actually turning and finishing one.
 
Dry sand till scratches are gone, finish with CA only. Do not introduce moisture to a blank that is going to get CA.
I would not sand with the walnut oil. While it may seem dry on the surface, it may hold some un-dried oil inside the wood and cause issues later.
 
I have turned a few worthless wood blanks and yes holes are common. I just fill with CA. Also, at the very end use about 4 to 6 coats of CA to finish the blank off and it turns out beautifully.
 
There can be a big difference in quality of blanks from one maker to another. I would not be happy at all with a blank I made having holes that needed to be filled with sawdust. Pinholes can happen but anything more than that is not acceptable for any blank I make.
 
I make my own casts and as Curtis says quality of the blank is of utmost importance. I make my blanks for pens that require 3/4 blanks or above because I believe that that blank can be appreciated better, small pen could require to much of the blank to be lost. As for the finish I use CA and polish to a mirror finish.
Joey
 
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